is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of

Cute Cuteness is a subjective term describing a type of attractiveness commonly associated with youth and appearance, as well as a scientific concept and analytical model in ethology, first introduced by Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz proposed the concept ...

, a girl

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

group within

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but has s ...

Career

Yajima first joined

in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the

Hello! Project Kids is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but has s ...

auditions after performing "

Momoiro Kataomoi is a song by Aya Matsuura. It was released as her fifth single on February 6, 2002 under the Zetima label. Track listing Reception The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, RIAJ. Popular culture *This song ...

" by

Aya Matsuura is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...

. She debuted the same year in the movie ''

Koinu Dan no Monogatari , is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Shinichi Sawai, starring Hello! Project Kids, Morning Musume, and Maki Goto. The film was given a limited screening on December 14, 2002, where it was screened as a double-feature with ''Mini-Moni the Movie ...

'', taking on one of the main roles as an antagonist. The following year, she joined the first of the kids' groups,

ZYX ZYX or Zyx may refer to: * Zyx, a region in the North Caucasus inhabited by the Zygii * Zyx (cartoonist) (1950–2015), French-Canadian cartoonist * ZyX (company), a Japanese company that makes erotic video games * ZYX (gene), a gene that encod ...

, which released two singles. In 2004,

Berryz Kobo was a Japanese girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2004 and associated with Hello! Project. The group's members consisted of Hello! Project Kids members Saki Shimizu, Momoko Tsugunaga, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo, Yuri ...

was formed, with the intention of rotating the girls throughout the unit. Yajima did not make the original pick, and the idea was eventually dropped. The remaining girls eventually ended up forming

in 2005. Despite not being the oldest, Yajima still became the group's leader, after

Erika Umeda is a Japanese singer and former model. She was a member of the Japanese idol girl group ZYX and Cute up until departing to pursue a solo career in modeling. In 2013, she returned to her music career with the release of her debut solo single "Cr ...

turned down the role. The group did not make its official debut until late in 2006, with their first official single released in February 2007. Aside from leading Cute, Yajima became the sub-captain of Little Gatas and the

futsal team. She was also considered to be one of the fastest runners in all of

, often coming first in the running events at the annual sports festivals and listing running as one of her hobbies. Yajima also co-hosted Cute's weekly radio program, '' Cutie Party''. She took over the role when

Megumi Murakami is a Japanese choreographer and former singer and actress. She first gained recognition when she joined Hello! Project Kids and later became the lead vocalist of the girl group Cute until her retirement in 2006. Career 2002–2005: Hello! P ...

left the group. In 2008, Yajima was selected to be a member of Hello Project's new unit

High-King was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Cinderella'', titled . Their sound is said to have an R&B feel. History The group's debut si ...

. Yajima and Fukuda Kanon appeared in the movie ''Fuyu no Kaidan'' (Winter Ghost Story), released in Japan on May 23, 2009. Cute disbanded following their final concert at Saitama Super Arena on June 12, 2017. Yajima had announced earlier, via the group's blog, that she planned to pursue an acting career.

Personal life

Maimi's younger cousin, Akari Takeuchi, is a member of

ANGERME , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group from the musical collective Hello! Project, which originally consisted of four former Hello! Pro Egg (''Hello! Project'' trainees) members that left Egg in 2010 and became full-time members of ''Hello! P ...

, another girl group within Hello! Project. On November 8, 2022, she announced her marriage with actor Ryosuke Mikata.

Discography

Solo DVDs

Duet singles

Bibliography

Photobooks

Appearances

Movies

* * (2009) * ''

Ōsama Game is a cell phone novel written by Nobuaki Kanazawa (pen name: Pakkuncho), consisting of five volumes. A film based on the novel was released in 2011, and directed by Norio Tsuruta. The theme song of the film is " Amazuppai Haru ni Sakura Saku" ...

'' (December 17, 2011) * (December 29, 2012) * ''

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

'' (2019) * '' BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja'' (2019)

Straight-to-video

* (April 27, 2011,

Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. Th ...

) as Reira * (July 4, 2012) * (August 3, 2012)

TV dramas

Sūgaku Joshi Gakuen is a Japanese television drama series. It ran for 12 episodes. The cast primarily consists of Hello! Project members. The song "Hatsukoi Cider" from Buono!'s single " Hatsukoi Cider / Deep Mind" was used as the closing theme for the TV series; ...

'' (January 11, 2012 – March 28, 2012) * (2011)

Television

* (May 3, 2005) * ''°C-ute Has Come #03'' (December 2, 2006) * ''°C-ute Has Come #04'' (December 16, 2006) * '' 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' (December 31, 2007) * (

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Osaka, April 21, 2009) * (June 26, 2009) — a talk show featuring Hello! Project members * * * *

Radio

* ''Cutie Party'' (November 4, 2006 – ongoing) * (July 4, 2008 – ongoing, Fridays at 10 pm, FM Port)

Internet

* ''Hello! ga Ippai #01'' (November 10, 2006) * ''Hello! ga Ippai #02'' (November 24, 2006) * ''Hello! Pro Hour #02'' (March 17, 2006) * (2011) * ''Hagiwara Mai Desu ga... Nani ka?'' (2012)

Theater

* '' Cat's Eye'' (2012) as Hitomi Kisugi * Hatagumi Vol.3 "Ran" (2010) as Ran * Hatagumi Vol.4 "Ran―2011New version!!" (2011) as Ran * Hatagumi Vol.5 "Taklamakan" (2013) as Kei

References

External links

Cute official blog

Maimi Yajima's official UStream channel

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yajima, Maimi 1992 births Hello! Project Kids members Japanese female idols Japanese radio personalities Living people People from Saitama (city) ZYX (pop group) members Cute (Japanese idol group) members Musicians from Saitama Prefecture 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses